Letters to the Editor
Serai1
Published Letters: 502 Editor's Choice: 32
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I second the OP
[Read the article: I'll be alone for Christmas -- merrily!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My holidays are much like the OP's. If a friend invites me over for a holiday dinner (Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, whatever), I'll accept happily. But if not, that's fine. Although I like and enjoy the company of others, I've never found it necessary for having a good time. And like the OP, I find it annoying that people who are married or in relationships or whatever seem to think their status is the only worthwhile one. Some of us like being on our own. Is that so hard to believe?
And oh gods, the torture of family. My folks are nice enough people, but put them together and it can be a disaster. Not always, but there's always this tension that my father might blow up about something and ruin the whole evening. He's not as bad as he used to be, but the possibility is still there. So we tiptoe around him and hope everything won't collapse. That, and there's also the fact that I've got very little in common with the rest of them except for history. I'm just not really interested in spending time pretending to be overjoyed by people I'm not all that interested in. But you know...family. Doesn't matter if I want to be there, I still am expected to go. *sigh*
Maybe someday it'll be respectable and desirable to be single, and not with the "someday you'll be married" string of cans attached. Not everyone wants to be attached, not everyone wants to reproduce, not everyone needs the presence of others to be happy. When that becomes a well-accepted fact, the "joy" of the season really will be accessible to all.
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Well, that clinches it
[Read the article: Think censor: Apple's lawyers shut down rumor site]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've never owned an Apple product, and now I never will. Their whole rahrah "of the people" bit always smelled like bullshit to me, and this pretty much puts the last nail in the coffin. I don't care how "cool" or cutesy their products may be (in fact, that's a serious drawback, for my money), if they're going to act like this, I'll take my money elsewhere, thank you. At least Microsoft doesn't pretend to be all pals-y with its customers.
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THANK YOU
[Read the article: Championing mainstream political thought while pretending to oppose it]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This just isn't how elections work. You don't get to create your ideal candidate by slapping together all the important beliefs you have. You have to pick from the ones who are actually running.
Thank you thank you thank you, Glenn. If I could crack open the head of every ninny who treats the presidential election as his own personal popularity contest, and pour in this paragraph in liquid form to permeate every self-involved neuron, I would. Over the last thirty years I've grown sick and disgusted at the prevalence of the "None of them are My Perfect Candidate, so I'm just not going to vote!" attitude. Too many people, especially young voters, espouse this viewpoint. When they don't get exactly what they want, they throw what basically amounts to a tantrum, taking their balls and going home. Thus the country is deprived of the majority of its voters' voices, all because those voters can't behave like adults.
Personally, I think it should be mandatory by law to vote, just like in Australia. Over there, anyone who doesn't vote is fined. It is our duty to add our voices to the political discourse in this country. That is exactly how we've gotten into this horrid mess - too many voters couldn't be bothered to lower their oh-so-precious standards, then they get all discouraged and apathetic, and then they whine about how bad the government is. What the hell do they expect? If you abandon the fortress walls, you can't get pissy when the Huns start pouring in.
Growing up in America, I never thought I'd see this country taken down by its own citizens' lack of interest, defeatism and childishness. But is is, and here we are, and I at least have the Franklinesque pleasure of saying "I told you so!"
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About time
[Read the article: How to get better gas mileage]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's about time people started paying attention to this issue.
I learned to drive in the late 70's, when the gas crisis was going on and conservation was on everyone's mind. So I was more than a little horrified when the Age Of Hogging started, everyone kinda forgot about ecology and the environment and said, "Fuck it, I'm gonna drive HOWEVER I FEEL LIKE DRIVING!" Having developed my own driving sensibilities on an early 80's Geo Sprint (a car which got better gas mileage than those made today, by the way), I couldn't imagine why anyone would want the ugly, self-indulgent, gas-hogging monsters that started to appear. Not only energy-inefficient, they were dangerous as well!
My point being that I've been using most of these tricks since then, and saving on gas. I always drive at 55 miles per hour on the freeway, and have known about the 5-mile-over rule for decades. My best friend laughed at me for driving so slowly, but got quiet when I told her how much gas I saved.
People seem to have glommed onto the idea that driving is some kind of amusement park ride, to be done solely for fun, however one feels like doing it. Wrong! Although driving is fun, it isn't about fun; it's about getting where you're trying to go with as little damage to yourself and others as possible, and that includes the environment. I see this trend as being just another thread of the IWANTIWANTIWANT brattiness that has infected this country over the past thirty years or so, and I'll be more than happy to see it decline. It's about time people started thinking about more than just themselves out on the road.
Oh, and one more hint? PUT AWAY THE DAMN CELL PHONES. The more attention you pay to your driving, the better efficiency, and the SAFER we will all be.